Affected Software and Vulnerability Severity Ratings

The following software versions or editions are affected. Versions or editions that are not listed are either past their support life cycle or are not affected. To determine the support life cycle for your software version or edition, see Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

The following severity ratings assume the potential maximum impact of the vulnerability. For information regarding the likelihood, within 30 days of this security bulletin's release, of the exploitability of the vulnerability in relation to its severity rating and security impact, please see the Exploitability Index in the March bulletin summary.

[3]Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 updates are cumulative. The monthly security release includes all security fixes for vulnerabilities that affect Windows 10, in addition to non-security updates. The updates are available via the Microsoft Update Catalog. Please note that effective December 13, 2016, Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 details for the Cumulative Updates will be documented in Release Notes. Please refer to the Release Notes for OS Build numbers, Known Issues, and affected file list information.

*The Updates Replaced column shows only the latest update in any chain of superseded updates. For a comprehensive list of updates replaced, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog, search for the update KB number, and then view update details (updates replaced information is provided on the Package Details tab).

Update FAQ

The PDF Library vulnerability discussed in this bulletin is also discussed in the Microsoft Edge bulletin being released in March. To be protected from the vulnerability, do I need to install multiple updates for my particular system and Microsoft Edge configuration?No. Customers running Windows 10 systems only need to install the one cumulative update for their system to be protected from CVE-2017-0023. The PDF library vulnerability also appears in the Microsoft Edge bulletin (MS17-007) because on Windows 10 systems the security fix for this vulnerability resides in the Microsoft Edge component that is shipping in the cumulative update.

Vulnerability Information

Microsoft PDF Memory Corruption Vulnerability CVE – 2017-0023

A remote code execution vulnerability exists when Microsoft Windows PDF Library improperly handles objects in memory. The vulnerability could corrupt memory in a way that enables an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

To exploit the vulnerability on Windows 10 systems with Microsoft Edge set as the default browser, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that contains malicious PDF content and then convince users to view the website. The attacker could also take advantage of compromised websites, or websites that accept or host user-provided content or advertisements, by adding specially crafted PDF content to such sites. Only Windows 10 systems with Microsoft Edge set as the default browser can be compromised simply by viewing a website. The browsers for all other affected operating systems do not automatically render PDF content, so an attacker would have no way to force users to view attacker-controlled content. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to open a specially crafted PDF document, typically by way of an enticement in an email or instant message or by way of an email attachment.

The update addresses the vulnerability by modifying how affected systems handle objects in memory.

The following table contains links to the standard entry for each vulnerability in the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list:

Security Update Deployment

Acknowledgments

Microsoft recognizes the efforts of those in the security community who help us protect customers through coordinated vulnerability disclosure. See Acknowledgments for more information.

Disclaimer

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